


now my heart is an open door

by badboy_fangirl



Category: Real Person Fiction, Vampire Diaries RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 04:06:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10677336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badboy_fangirl/pseuds/badboy_fangirl
Summary: Ian doesn't just like blondes.





	now my heart is an open door

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Every story I wrote about NIan was written between December 2010 and January 2014. These are old and hold no bearing on how things actually were, are, or will be. I know Ian is married now, and I am not trying to be disrespectful. For all these years, I kept these stories locked on LiveJournal and protected, and it just occurred to me that these are just stories, and these are as much characters as any of the other fanfic I've ever written. It also represents a lot of my creative time and energy and I'm proud of these stories. So I'm posting them now, with the intent that others might enjoy them.
> 
> Spoilers for the first two seasons of LOST.

_Oahu, Hawaii, 2005_  
  
There is something truly tragic in the way Maggie's eyes crinkle at the corners as she turns her head towards him. "That was...sorta bad?" She sniffs a little. "Didn't see that coming, at all."  
  
He's been back for a week, just to shoot a couple scenes, but it felt like getting back on the bike—at least the work part. They broke up when he left the island (both fictional and non-fictional) more than six months before, but Lindelof had always promised he'd bring Ian back for at least one episode. (How was he to know it would be to kill Shannon off too? Oh, the irony.)  
  
So, now, Maggie will be coming back to the mainland, so they might as well get back together, right? It wasn't like they stopped loving each other just because they made the pragmatic, adult decision not to have a long-distance relationship. He's 27, he could totally do long-distance, but she'd been 22 when they broke up, and it had been obvious. She didn't think she could be faithful, and she didn't want the responsibility.   
  
(She said at the time: "I don't want you to end up hating me," while tears trickled down her cheeks.)  
  
So, they broke up. But they remained friends; talked on the phone often and emailed a lot. And, the minute he was back in her time zone, they knew they would hook up.   
  
It just didn't happen until the end of the week, after five days of shooting. She was morose about Shannon's death (trust him, he knows the feeling), but that didn't explain the fairly mediocre sex they'd just shared.  
  
"It's like, the spark? It died," he muses, looking at her from across the pillow.  
  
She smiles a sad little smile. "We'll always be friends?" she asks.  
  
He presses his mouth to hers one last time and vows, "Forever."  
  
  
  
  
  
 _Atlanta, Georgia, 2009_  
  
Atlanta is hot, and Nina can't help but complain, loudly, about it every chance she gets. Everyone else complains, too, except Ian, and when she asks him why, he says with an affected accent, "I grew up in Louisiana, honey. Bayou heat beats this any day of the week."  
  
"Louisiana?" she repeats, because he pronounced it  _loosiana_  not  _le-weesi-ana_.  
  
"That's how we say it down there," he drawls.  
  
"Except you have no accent, and you don't talk like that," she says, shoving her hand against his chest. "Stop it."  
  
He growls at her and it gives her a funny little flare in her tummy, much like the unnecessary touching did. She can't help it; when she gets around him, and they're just hanging out like friends, it's hard to keep her hands to herself.  
  
"Besides, I've lived here before," he murmurs, tipping his sweet tea to her as they settle on the outside deck of hers and Sara's condo. They sit on the edge, their legs hanging over the side.  
  
"In Atlanta?" she asks. When he nods, she demands to know when.  
  
"About nine years ago. I did this show—it was a spinoff of  _Dawson's Creek_ —but it went nowhere. We only did a handful of episodes. But we shot it in Atlanta, not far from here, actually. Being here brings back good memories."  
  
"Oh, yeah, I saw that on your bio. What was it called? Something America, or..." she snaps her fingers trying to recall the name.  
  
"You looked at my bio? Where?"  
  
"On IMDB, of course!" she says with a laugh. "I Googled all of you, had to know some stuff before I started spending sixteen hours a day with you. You didn't Google me?" she asks, arching a brow at him as she sucks down her beer.  
  
She does this around him, drinks "to unwind" and then gets flirty with him, and they both pretend it's the alcohol. Nina doesn't mind the little dishonest game. He's got a girlfriend, and they aren't technically doing anything wrong, but she's never liked anyone as much as she likes him. It really is like Tourettes, she just can't stop herself.  
  
"Oh, I Googled you, all right, but I'd already heard of you.  _Degrassi_  may have even graced my television once or twice."  
  
"Shut up," she says, because she's really surprised. She can also feel her cheeks flaming at the idea of him watching her when she was younger, and less experienced.  
  
"No, seriously, I've got this friend, Maggie. And we see each other a couple times a year, and she's a big  _Degrassi_  fan. Grew up on it, never grew out of it. That was what was funny the first time I saw you, because you were familiar to me. Soon as I figured it out, I called Maggie. She freaked when I told her 'Mia' from  _Degrassi_  was going to be my new TV girlfriend."  
  
She sees this sweet softness come into his face as he talks about this Maggie person, and she feels that tug of jealousy, the same one that plagues her whenever Meghan is mentioned. She'd blame the alcohol, but it takes at least three beers to get her really loose-tongued. This is just pure audaciousness. "What does Meghan think of your friend Maggie?"  
  
Ian blinks and then gives her a slow smile. "She knows all about Maggie, so she doesn't have a problem with it. I tend to stay friends with my exes. It's my thing."  
  
She sips her beer more slowly and glances away from him, trying to gather her thoughts. Sometimes his eyes simply blew all rationality from her head, and tonight was no different. "You'd have to be pretty damn secure to be okay with that," she murmurs.  
  
Ian snorts a little. "Yeah, well. At this point, Meg's more jealous of you than she ever could've been of Maggie."  
  
Nina chokes on her beer and whips her head around to look at him again. "W-what?" she asks, coughing into her wrist.  
  
"By the time I got together with Meghan, Maggie and I had been friends way longer than we were lovers. And long distance relationships are hard. She's a little paranoid; she thinks everyone's after me. She doesn't get it, you know, the image thing, the fact that all the girls who want to take a picture with me don't  _actually_  know me, or want  _me_ , they want the image."  
  
Nina nods because she's not sure if he's lumping her in with those other girls, but she doesn't want to deal with it either way. Quickly, she grabs at something—anything—that will turn the conversation around. "So, Maggie. As in Maggie Grace? From  _LOST_? As in Shannon used to watch  _Degrassi_?"  
  
Ian throws back his head and laughs, and Nina thinks Meghan has every right to worry. She'd jump him if she had two more beers in her, for sure.  
  
He talks for a while about Hawaii, and Matthew Fox (who he calls 'Foxy') and how much he loved that time in his life, and how hard it had been to say goodbye. "You know it, in your head, that television's a business, that decisions are made to benefit the story, and all that, but I tell ya. I took it hard. It felt like I'd never work again, and no matter what, the gig would never be as great. But, look at me now! Best job, ever. Best friends, ever. Best time, ever." He chucks her under the chin, and goosebumps break out on her arms even though it's 90 degrees in September. "That's why I don't complain about the heat. I'd rather be here than anywhere else."  
  
Nina looks away this time, not just because he's so beautiful he makes her chest hurt, but because his words make her eyes sting with tears. "I know, right?" she says quietly.  
  
The silence settles between them, and she's never been more comfortable even while longing for something that's never going to happen.  
  
  
  
  
  
A few days later, he's just come out of hair and make-up when she sidles up to him. "So, Hamilton Fleming," she says in a quiet voice.  
  
He turns his head towards her, and even under a layer of Damon-make-up, she can see his cheeks flushing. "What?" he asks.  
  
"YouTube is a miracle worker."  
  
"Shut up," he groans, one hand covering his eyes as his embarrassment grows.  
  
"It was called 'Young Americans,' which, if you ask me is so pretentious, no wonder it didn't catch on." She's laughing as they start making their way over to the set of the Salvatore boarding house, and he's rolling his eyes, but she's not sure if it's directed at her or his past, forever memorexed.  
  
He just shakes his head and says nothing, so she continues on. "You were adorable, though, I have to say. And you totally did that growling thing that you always do. Which, I take to mean that Hamilton is very much Ian—or at least how Ian was nine years ago."  
  
She nearly jumps out of her skin when his arm surrounds her neck so he can pull her close. He leans down and puts his lips against her ear, growling right into it. Goosebumps break out all over her body and she's hard-pressed to keep walking in a straight line. "You mean that?" he asks, and the way his eyes dance as he lifts his head tempts her to both punch him right in the face for making her want him so much and then, you know, totally have her way with him, right there in the fake entry way.  
  
She shoves him back, praying to God that she doesn't look as turned on as she feels, but he says, "Katie was the one who told me, back then, that it was better, right in the ear. Got her every time."  
  
Nina wants to pretend she doesn't know who Katie is, but of course she also Googled his co-star from  _Young Americans_. "So, you always date your co-stars, huh?" she asks, and she thinks this may be the best acting of her life.  _Totally cool delivery, Dobrev._  She'd high five herself if she could.  
  
"I'd hardly call her my co-star. I never had any scenes with her, not till the end of the shoot." They stand just to the side of the doorway leading into the great room, watching as the crew set up the overhead lights.  
  
Nina stops and looks at him. "What are you talking about? You guys had all your scenes together. You and Katherine Moennig?"  
  
Ian shakes his head. "I didn't date her. I dated Katie Bosworth. Kate was...let's just say we both had crushes on Katie, but I got the girl." He offers a smug little smile.  
  
Once she gets his eyebrow wagging implication, she mocks, "Way to trump the lesbians, Ian." A sense of disappointment that is too large to fathom and yet ridiculously irritating at the same time assaults her. "But, of course you dated Kate Bosworth. Because you like blondes. I should have realized."  
  
"Places, everyone," Marcos calls out.  
  
Ian's head jerks towards the sound of their director's voice, and as he moves away from her, he doesn't break eye contact. "I don't just like blondes, Nina," he says, and something about his tone makes more goosebumps appear.  
  
She looks away and finds Paul standing nearby, waiting for her. As she smiles at her TV boyfriend, she thinks she'd rather Ian growl in her ear inappropriately than ever give her false hope like that.  
  
  
  
  
  
 _New York City, New York, 2011_  
  
They've been in the city for a few days, just following Upfronts, when Ian insists that they go to a restaurant downtown with his friend Hogan Gorman. "You'll love her," he says, throwing his favorite dress of hers at her as she's sprawled on the hotel bed. "She's hysterical. And we never dated. She's like my sister. And I sort of need her stamp of approval to know if you're a keeper or not."  
  
She lifts her head when he says that, flips him off, and then rolls across the bed, scooping up the dress as she goes. "You know I'm kidding!" he shouts as she disappears into the bathroom.  
  
She's standing under the hot spray a few minutes later when he joins her in the shower. "Water conservation," he murmurs into her neck, his hands already slick with bath gel. He soaps her up, his fingers spending extra time at her nipples and between her legs until her arousal is rampant in every cell of her body and she needs release more than she needs her next breath. She reaches back, wrapping her hand around his neck to pull him to her, both to be closer and because she needs to lean against him as her legs have turned to jelly.  
  
She wants to tell him that the water they waste when the make love in the shower in no way helps his environmental causes, but she can't really form words when he draws them both down onto the convenient little bench. She tries turning to face him, but he plants one hand in the middle of her back, shifting her forward slightly so that she slides down on his erection. She gasps as he penetrates her from behind, and braces her hands on his knees. Once they have a nice rhythm going, his hands find her breasts and she writhes in his palms until an orgasm engulfs them both. His groans echo off the tile wall and Nina's sure her cries of pleasure would be cause for embarrassment if they weren't in such a nice hotel.   
  
He reaches up and turns the water off as she relaxes back against him. He growls in her ear as his hands smooth up and down her thighs, and he whispers, "Please go to dinner with me and my friend?"  
  
(As if she could deny him anything, anyway.)  
  
  
  
  
  
Hogan is just as Ian described her—hilarious and sisterly. It's refreshing to sit with someone who isn't her mother, his mother, or one of the crew from TVD, who reacts to him like he's just a normal person. Hogan is neither bowled over by his charm, nor overly impressed with anything he does.   
  
But she loves Nina, and gushes over her, makes it obvious that she thinks Ian's the one who made a catch, and it strikes her that any insecurity she's ever felt in their relationship is totally unneeded. She should have learned from Meghan's example before her—the least attractive quality wasn't jealousy; jealousy, in small amounts, is good. She knows the times Ian has noticed some guy checking her out, his comments about it have reassured her that he wants other people to know they're together, that she's his, and that's exactly the way it should be. What's unattractive is a lack of trust, the inability to be apart without freaking out, and they have that down. This summer has entailed a lot of time apart, and it's only served to strengthen things between them.  
  
As they're putting Hogan in a cab in front of the restaurant, someone calls Ian's name. Nina half expects it to be a fan, since they managed to get through dinner without anyone approaching them, but as they turn toward the voice, it happens to be someone he knows.  
  
Maggie Grace launches herself into Ian's arms. For a moment there's a bunch of chaos—he spins her around and she laughs gleefully, and Nina just stands there watching Hogan's cab drive away.   
  
Then Ian turns to her, his face alight with joy that steals her breath and he says, "Maggie, this is Nina Dobrev, whom I believe you've always wanted to meet!"  
  
Nina puts her hand out, but Maggie sidesteps that altogether and just hauls Nina into a hug. "Holy cow, Mia Jones. It's so awesome to meet you!"  
  
Nina laughs because she can't help it, but it's nervous and forced, and she feels totally awkward. Maggie is beautiful—so beautiful, and tall (taller than Ian because she's wearing three-inch heels), and when she laughs in response to Nina's giggles, she feels so completely lame, it's not even funny.  
  
"Hi," she says, which is even lamer, and she wishes desperately that she'd had a drink with dinner.  
  
"What are you guys doing here?" Maggie asks, and Ian starts rambling about Upfronts and stuff about the show, and they quickly get caught up as Maggie explains she's in New York for a few auditions.  
  
Suddenly, things snap into place for Nina. She watches how they are, feels the energy between them, and it all falls away. It's been brewing for a while, her certainty about Ian, and their relationship, but on a street in Manhattan is where it totally solidifies for her. There is nothing for her to worry about, ever. When she got the part in  _Perks_ , they'd had their defining moment. She could tell Ian had wondered if being apart was something they could navigate, and he'd asked in a really round about way if she wanted to break up, at least for the summer—not because he'd wanted to, but because he thought maybe she wanted to be free.   
  
But she hasn't wanted that since she met him. He is  _it_ , and she's only 22 years old, but here she is. All she has to do is go back to the time when she thought she'd never have him at all to kill the fear that comes from knowing she's bound, for life, to this one man.  
  
"Maggie, come with us, to get a drink," Nina invites, slipping her hand into Ian's. "Do you have time? We were just going to go to club not far from here."  
  
Maggie grins, and tags along easily. Ian's fingers lace through Nina's and they're off.   
  
(Later, he'll tell her she's amazing and he loves her so much, and she doesn't even care that he's a little drunk when he says it.)  
  
  
  
  
  
 _Bel-Air, California, 2012_  
  
At some point, he loses track of Nina. She's moving through the crowd, talking to everyone, making everyone feel as important as the biggest donors of the evening, and all he can do is follow her lead. It's funny how when he started ISF, he intended to have something like this; his dream was always that with her by his side, he'd be able to accomplish so much more than even he could imagine, but tonight he's humbled by the fact that it's actually happening.  
  
Maggie finds him at the after party and tells him how amazing she thinks the Influence Affair is, and how she'd been inspired to donate herself. "What you have created is really wonderful," she says, hugging him tightly.  
  
As she lets him go, she says, "I knew you were going to do  _something_ , someday, but I had no idea, friend. No idea. And Nina? She's fucking stellar. Don't let that spark go out, okay?"  
  
He smiles, pinching her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I'll do my best."  
  
An hour later, he watches them hugging goodbye from a distance. In the car, on the way back to the hotel, Nina yawns, and then reaches over to squeeze his leg with her hand. "I love Maggie, Ian. She's so great. I wish she'd audition for our show, so she could come live in Atlanta."  
  
He laughs, and grips her hand with his. It's so late, the sky is already tinged with pink because the sun is about to rise. "She's actually working with Kevin on his new show. So, we'll probably see her at stuff if it gets picked up."  
  
"Really?" Nina asks excitedly.  
  
"Truly. They just finished filming, so." He holds up crossed fingers. "Here's hoping."  
  
Nina falls asleep before they reach the hotel, so he gets a maintenance guy to let him use the service elevator to get her up to their room. He lays her on the bed and tugs her shoes off. She stirs as he tucks the sheet around her. "My dress," she murmurs. "It'll get so wrinkled."  
  
He presses his mouth to her forehead and whispers, "It doesn't matter, it's  _your_  dress, not a loaner."  
  
She sighs, and her eyes drift shut again. "Oh, yeah," she breathes, and then she's out again. He watches her for a long time, contemplating the mysteries of life.   
  
Magic. It's all magic, every bit of it.

**Author's Note:**

> You can watch Young Americans on YouTube :-)


End file.
